Eagleburger Says U.S. Now Wants Ban on Serbian Flights Enforced

In a stiffening of the Bush Administration's position on the war in the Balkans, Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger said today that the United States would support a United Nations resolution to enforce the ban on Serbian flights over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He also said the Administration was rethinking its opposition to lifting a United Nations arms embargo that has the effect of benefitting the well-armed Serbian forces.

Mr. Eagleburger's statements came a day after President-elect Bill Clinton, speaking of President Bush's policy, may have nudged the Administration toward a new resolution enforcing the flight ban. Mr. Eagleburger's remarks reflected an apparent desire within the Bush Administration to leave office having done what it could to ease the crisis in the war-torn remnants of Yugoslavia.

Speaking to reporters en route to Stockholm, where he will meet with European foreign ministers to discuss the Balkan crisis and other issues, Mr. Eagleburger explained why the United States had changed its position. He cited the deterioration of the situation on the ground in Bosnia and added that, as in Somalia, the United States could not "simply ignore it and leave it to the next Administration."

"We cannot obviously make commitments that tie down a new Administration," Mr. Eagleburger said. "On the other hand, history doesn't stop between now and the 20th of January."

At a news conference in Little Rock, Ark., on Friday, Mr. Clinton said the United States and its allies should do what it takes, apparently including air strikes but not the deployment of ground troops, to enforce the flight ban. During the election campaign, Mr. Clinton also said he would consider recommending an international call to end the arms embargo.

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[ Asked about his Friday remarks at another news conference on Saturday, Mr. Clinton said he had not criticized the Bush Administration policy. "I did not question the Administration's policy," he said. "I pointed out that the reason this no-fly zone had not been enforced in the past is not because the Bush Administration had not been willing to, but because of the concerns the French and the British had about putting their soldiers at greater risk because they are on the ground in Bosnia and we are not." ]

Mr. Eagleburger acknowledged that there was still opposition within the Administration to enforcing the ban on Serbian flights as well as resistance by both the French and British Governments, which are concerned that the safety of the troops they have committed to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Bosnia could be jeopardized.

"We would like to see an enforcement resolution passed," he said, adding that he would discuss the issue at meetings in Stockholm, Geneva and Brussels next week. But he added, "I am not going to go in there with a baseball bat and say we are now going to go for an enforcement resolution." Serbs Violate Ban

The Serbs routinely violate the ban on flights and have flown both warplanes and helicopters more than 200 times since it was imposed in the fall. There are reports from United Nations military observers that Serbs have used helicopters in combat missions against targets on the ground in recent weeks, but no independent confirmation from United States intelligence officials.

Until now, the Bush Administration has remained firmly opposed to lifting the United Nations arms embargo in the Balkans, arguing that any move to allow arms to flow to either side would only increase the level of violence and prolong the fighting. But in recent days the State Department has drafted a memorandum that argues both sides of the issues, senior Administration officials said.

The United States, Mr. Eagleburger said, is prepared "to examine with others whether it would be wise to move away from the solid position we have all taken of a flat arms embargo with regard to the Bosnian Muslims."

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A version of this article appears in print on December 13, 1992, on Page 1001024 of the National edition with the headline: Eagleburger Says U.S. Now Wants Ban on Serbian Flights Enforced. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe